Together or Never
by HuaFeiHua
Summary: When Sasha finds Connie dying out on the battlefield, she makes him make her a promise.


**Word Count:** 1,764

* * *

The sounds of battle rang out all around Sasha as her horse galloped through the field. She looked around wildly, searching desperately for her best friend and partner in crime, Connie.

"Connie! Connie, you idiot, where are you?" she screamed. From the corner of her eye, she saw a titan lumber by, and she shrieked from fear and dug her heel into the side of her steed, urging it to gallop faster.

The wind tugged at her hood, flinging it off before attacking her hair, pulling at the ponytail so that it flew out from behind her. Sasha noticed she'd begun crying, though she couldn't tell if it was from the wind or her emotions. " _Connie_!" she screamed again, searching the vicinity for the short boy.

"Sasha! Change of plans; we're changing direction so that we head west!" she heard a comrade yell at her.

She cursed aloud, and urged her horse ever faster. She wasn't changing direction, not yet. She had to find Connie.

She could hear her horse huff and puff as its hooves pounded against the grass. The sounds of battle died away as she separated herself from the others. _Why am I risking myself for this idiot?_ She wondered. She allowed her horse to slow down, and her adrenaline levels began to slowly sink down to normal levels.

She heard a faint whistle off in the distance, and her allowed herself to hope again. She tugged on her horse's reins, guiding it in the direction of the noise.

The whistles grew gradually louder, far too gradually to have been occurring at the same volume every time. Whoever she was chasing after at the moment was dying out, and Sasha felt a pang of fear in her gut. Though she'd barely given her steed a rest, she urged him faster once more.

Finally, she saw a lone horse trotting around, and her stomach twisted itself into knots. It was Connie's.

" _Connie_!" she hollered again, her throat raw by this point. Her eyes scanned the fields, looking for something, _anything_ , that could mean that he was nearby.

From the corner of her eye she saw it: a small figure weakly sitting up, fingers in their mouth and making weak whistles. Connie.

She began riding up to him, then jumped off her horse as it still gallopped, hitting the ground running. She sprinted over to him as he fell back down on the ground.

"No, no, no, stay with me, Connie," she whispered as she knelt down by his side. He weakly grinned up at her, then hacked up a nasty mess of phlegm and blood.

"This is it, Sash. I'm dying, and you're here by my side as always," he hoarsely whispered, but Sasha kept denying it.

"You are _not_ dying on me! We'll die together, or never at all," she ferociously said, grabbing hold of his hand and squeezing it none too gently.

Connie laughed a little, but it turned to coughs again. "Ha, ha… Give 'em hell for me, Sasha."

Tears formed in the corner of Sasha's eyes, and the next few memories were a blur of pain and screaming. She vaguely remembered carrying Connie with her on her horse as a deadweight, galloping back in the direction of the others with him in her arms.

His head lolled around, and Sasha was terrified for his life. "Together or never. Together or never. Together or never." She repeated the phrase over and over like a prayer. She checked his pulse constantly, hoping that it wouldn't weaken to the point of vanishing.

Her horse tired out, and after doing a quick check for nearby titans, she got off and switched to Connie's, who'd had the smarts to actually follow its master. They gallopped on for what seemed like hours, but probably hadn't exceeded thirty or forty minutes. At long last, they met up with the rest of the legion.

"Medic!" she cried, forcing the already exhausted horse she was riding to keep sprinting as fast as it could. A few heads turned in her direction, and they slowed down for her.

She swallowed a rising lump in her throat as she shifted Connie's weight in her arms so that they could better take him.

"Take good care of him," she choked out, and the medics curtly nodded back at her.

She changed horses and gallopped away as fast as the horse was able.

* * *

Shining down on them was a blue moon. Not literally, of course, Sasha would have _died_ to have been able to see that, but it was summertime again, and the moon was far larger than it had been in her memory.

She and Connie sat on the crenellations* on the roof of the castle they'd called home for almost three years now. Tomorrow was the next expedition outside of Wall Maria, exploring the lands that lay beyond for the Hometown that Reiner, Bertholt, and Annie had spoken of.

They had high hopes for this one though, unlike the last few expeditions they'd gone on. Annie had finally broken out of her crystal cocoon a year ago, and only recently had she been able to recover from her triggers enough to be able to talk about her past before entering inside of the walls, even if it had only been with Armin.

Sasha jumped to her feet and began hopping from crenellation to crenellation, swaying dangerously with every jump and looking like she were about to fall.

"Sasha, I think you should be a little more careful," Connie warned her in an uneasy tone.

"Oh Connie, I know what I'm doing. I have an excellent sense of baLAa _aAAANce_!" As if on cue, her foot misstepped, and she slipped.

Time seemed to slow down. There was an unnatural wobble in her ankle at first, then a scrape against the arch of her foot. Her other foot collided nastily with the stone of the roof as she tipped over, kicking her own butt before beginning to freefall. She flailed her arms around as her voice refused to work.

There was suddenly a sharp tug on the skin of her arm, and she jerked to a halt before crashing into the castle wall. She winced as she hit the stone, knowing full well her side would be black and blue in the morning, but she looked up with frightened eyes at her savior.

Connie's face was contorted with fear as he struggled to drag his friend back up to safety. But it seemed that for every centimeter gained, she seemed to fall two centimeters farther, and it was terrifying.

"Connie, no! You'll get us both killed!"

A pained smile appeared on his face, and a grunt of exertion escaped him. "Together or never, Sasha," he vowed. "Together or never."

"That was a stupid promise!" she screamed at him, tears beginning to stream down her face. "Don't sacrifice yourself for me, _I_ was the one who made the stupid-ass decision and didn't listen to you when you warned me. _You!_ And let's be real here, you're not the sharpest tool in the shed."

Connie suddenly lunged forward, moving his grip on her arm further down before yanking her a few centimeters upwards. Sasha felt herself suddenly slide upwards on the wall, and she was thankful that the stones were smooth with age.

She could reach out and grab the edge of the crenellations now, and that she did, putting as much of her weight as she onto her free arm. Connie gradually dragged her farther and farther away from her death, and she was soon able to claw her way back onto the flat part of the roof.

Adrenaline coursed through her, though it began dying down as she crouched down on her hands and knees and took a few deep, calming breaths.

"Together or never, Sasha. We made a promise, and we're going to keep it."

* * *

"And now, the bride will recite her own vows."

Sasha picked a wad of folded-up paper out of her pocket and unfolded it. She grinned at Connie standing in front of her and began to read.

"Once upon a time, there was an idiot who lived inside of the walls. He lived inside of the walls because he was scared of the titans and trained to fight them to stay away from them. But he ended up joining the death branch of the military with a fat girl who only ate potatoes. One day, they both nearly died, but they pulled through and eventually helped solve the mystery behind the titans. Once, the girl had told him they'd die together, or never at all. Today is the day we can say never."

She looked up from her paper at her best friend and love of her life, still beaming. He laughed, and they both nearly missed the announcement that they were now married.

They kissed for the first time as a married couple, then faced their surviving friends together.

* * *

An old couple danced among the flowers. They didn't seem old from a distance; they moved with as much ease as if they were in their early twenties.

The lady's eyes crinkled as she laughed, though no noise came with it. The man's face broke into a smile as well, and they stopped dancing for a few minutes just to stop and laugh.

A young woman entered the meadow, carrying a tray containing a two boiled potatoes, two glasses of water, and a large bowl of steaming soup. She gently knelt down in front of the couple and placed the tray down on the ground next to two stones. She then removed a match and lit two sticks, causing their sweet fragrance to fill the air.

She meditated for a few moments, and the man and woman gazed fondly down at her. The woman leaned her elbow on the man's shoulder, using him as an armrest.

The young lady opened her eyes and read the inscription on the stones.

 _Here lies Connie Springer_

 _May 2nd, 835 - July 16th, 901_

 _-ooo-_

 _Here lies Sasha Braus_

 _July 26th, 834 - July 16th, 901_

"Goodbye, Mom. Goodbye, Dad. You always said you'd die together or never." Tears began to form at the corners of the girl's eyes. "At least you died together."

Sasha and Connie smiled down on their daughter, then faded away, their promises fulfilled.

* * *

 _*crenellation: you know how castles have those blocky fringe things? That's a crenellation. Google it if you need better visualization.  
_

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_** _Wow look Springles. They need more love. Yes, the story was crap, but whatever. Anyway, if you liked it (for some reason or other) I guess leave a favorite? If you liked it that much. Anyway, leave your thoughts in the reviews (if that's what you're into), and as always, have a greaat daaayy~~_


End file.
